How to Make Store Bought Pizza Crust Crispy – Pro Tips

Do you want to know how to make store bought pizza crust crispy? Indeed you’re one of those who love a perfect pizza more. 

No doubt, crispy crust pizza has a special place in everyone’s heart because of its crunch and doneness level. Therefore, people keep asking that whenever they make pizza at home, their pizza dough becomes soggy.

The good news is, this write-up is here for your redemption, we’ll explain the best ways to make your pizza crispy. Here we go…! 

How To Make Crispy Pizza Crust? Complete Process

When you buy store-bought dough and move towards the process of making pizza, the frozen dough crust may become soggy. The reason is any single step or baking technique that you miss.

People have come up with many ways to make the pizza crust crunchy and tasty. Here are the few most effective techniques that can help you make crispy pizza crust while baking a pizza in an oven using:

• Pizza steel
• Pizza stone
• Baking tray  
• Cast-Iron Skillet 

Oven-Baked Pizza

The oven-baked pizza is the most famous and straightforward manner to make pizza at home. Nowadays, people prefer oven-baked pizza instead of brick stove pizza or pan pizza. 

Here are the points to making crispy crust pizza with the store-bought pizza dough.  

1- Unwrap The Pizza Dough 

The first step is taking the store-bought dough out of the bag. You’ll have to defrost the frozen dough to make a crispy crust. So, unwrap the dough and place it at room temperature until it becomes fluffy and easy to use. 

2- Form the Dough Ball Using Flour

The second step is making a dough ball by kneading the store-bought dough. Many people make a mistake here by kneading the moist dough and making a damp ball. 

To make the dough crispy, you should dust a considerable amount of flour to make an excellent dry ball. After making the dough ball, dust off the excess flour.  

3- Wrap the Dough Ball for a Rise

Keeping the covered dough ball aside for some time will enhance the taste of the pizza crust. So, cover the dough with a plastic wrapper and keep it aside for at least an hour. In this period, the yeast present in the dough will work to raise the dough. 

4- Blend the Dough Again

When you see that the dough is nicely stimulated, it’s time to knead it again. The kneading and stretching of dough will help you mold the pizza base into your desired shape. Therefore, knead the dough and prepare it to form the pizza base.  

5- Form a Thin Pizza Base

The most common shape of the pizza crust is a round shape, but you can also make the shape you want. When forming the pizza base, many people make a mistake by making the pizza dough thick. 

When you keep the thick pizza dough in the oven for baking, it’ll become even denser and not crispy. Hence, to make a crispy pizza crust, you should make a thin base. Additionally, the narrow base will give you the desired crisp taste. 

6- Put Toppings of your Choice

At this step, you can add the toppings to your pizza base to make it more delicious. Firstly, put some pizza sauce on the bottom but keep in mind that the spice of pizza should be thick. Now add some cheese with chicken and vegetables according to your choice. 

7- Preheat the Oven

The most crucial step while making pizza at home is preheating the oven at 450° F. When you want the pizza dough to be crispy, like in restaurants, you should put the pizza in the oven when the range is extremely hot. 

So, preheat the oven for a few minutes before baking the pizza.   

8- Place Pizza in the Oven 

How you’re placing the pizza in the oven plays a significant role in making the pizza crust crispy. You can make a pizza base crispy by using different appliances to toast the pizza inside the range. 

Here are the most common tools that help you make crispy crust pizza. 

Pizza Stone

A pizza stone is a widespread and helpful method for making a crispy crust pizza at home. In the pizza stone method, the first step is to buy a good pizza stone to bake your pizza at home. You can buy a decent quality pizza stone from any grocery store for just $15 to $20. 

When you’ve purchased a pizza stone, it’s time to bake a crispy crust pizza. 

1- The initial step to making the pizza dough crispy is to preheat the pizza stone. You should preheat the pizza stone for approx 45 to 60 minutes at the highest possible temperature of 475-500°. The stone will absorb all the heat in it and helps to make the dough crispier.

2- Place the prepared pizza base on the preheated pizza stone in the oven rack. It’ll play a particular role in making the pizza crust crispier, like Italian pizzas. Bake it for a few minutes at 400° F in a preheated oven to get a crispy crust.  

Pizza Steel

The pizza steel is another better option than pizza stone to make the dough crunchy. The pizza steel may not be budget-friendly, but its price is worth it. You can get good pizza steel ranging from $80-$200 from any store. 

You must place the prepared pizza base on the pizza steel in the oven. You might not preheat the pizza steel for too long as being an excellent conductor of heat it becomes very hot in significantly less time. So, you can make fantastic crispy crust pizzas like Neapolitan and many more. 

Baking Tray

A baking tray is also a better option if you lack pizza stone or pizza steel. A baking tray comes in different varieties like aluminum trays etc. It would be best if you buy a steel baking tray. 

You must preheat the pizza base for 30 minutes at the maximum possible temperature, then place the pizza over the steel and bake it. 

The baking tray works like a pizza stone. It would be best if you placed the baking tray near the heat source in the oven so that it gains more heat. Put the pizza on the pizza tray and let it bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 400 F. 

Cast-Iron Skillet

The cast-iron skillet is the best choice when there is no other option. The cast-Iron skillet is made of iron, so it is an excellent conductor of heat. It may act like pizza steel. Most people make pizza on a cast-iron skillet without preheating.

You want to make a crispy crust pizza with a cast-iron skillet, right? Follow these instructions:

• Preheat the oven.
• Spread the pizza dough on the skillet. 
• Put the skillet in the oven for toasting the base for 5 minutes. 
• After 5 minutes sprinkle the sauces and toppings on it and back it for a further few minutes at 400 F. 

You can relish the taste of your favorite crunchy crust pizza. 

Keep Checking the Crust

While baking the pizza, when you see the pizza getting a brownish shade, take the pizza out for a while to see if the pizza is cooked appropriately or not. You can bake it for some more time if you want the pizza crust crispier.  

Enjoy your Pizza

When you get your desired pizza crust, take the pizza out of the oven and rest it. Your crispy crust pizza made with store-bought dough is ready to eat. Enjoy your meal. 

Why Doesn’t your Premade Pizza Crust Come Crispy? Top Reasons 

A question that may always pop up in your mind isn’t your pizza crust crispy like the store-bought pizza. A lot of reasons exist that can make your pizza dough soggy. 

Let’s dive in and discuss the most common reasons that will not make your pizza crust crispy. 

1- The Wrong Dough

Dough plays a significant role in making a delicious pizza. Various people buy cheap pizza dough to save a few pennies, but they spoil the pizza’s taste. It would be best always to buy a high-quality pizza dough to get the crispy pizza crust. 

Therefore, before purchasing a pizza base from the store, check the users’ reviews that have tried it earlier. 

2- Moisture Level

An excess amount of moisture can also spoil your pizza’s taste. The pizza crust can get water from thin sauces, more usage of cheese, use of extra moist toppings, etc. Therefore, while making pizza, use thick sauces to get the crispy crust. 

No doubt that cheese enhances pizza taste, but if you want a crispy crust pizza, you should avoid the use of excess cheese on the pizza dough. 

3- Wrong Temperature

Temperature plays a crucial role in providing a well-baked crispy crust pizza. Here is the ideal temperature guide for baking pizza in various oven types:

• The average temperature to cook a pizza in a wood-fired oven is 850-900F. 
• In contrast, the temperature should be around 600F to 700F to bake the pizza in the brick oven. 
• For baking pizza in a toaster oven, 400F is advisable. Additionally, preheating the oven is essential.
• To cook pizza in a convection oven, the 450-500F temperature is recommended.

So, the high temperature is a secret of a crispy dough pizza. The oven should also be preheated to increase the temperature. 

Hence, if you bake the pizza at a low temperature, the water in the dough will remain and make the dough moist instead of making it crispier.  

Tips to Make Frozen Pizza Crust Crispy

Do you think you know how to make store-bought pizza crust crispy? You might be unaware of many factors that need to be used or avoided while making a crispy pizza at home. 

So, spare a few minutes to know about the significant factors that make your pizza crust crispier. 

Here are the essential elements that you should do to get a crunchy pizza crust. 

Bake your Thick Pizza Crust Before Adding Toppings

When you head to add toppings to your pizza dough, you don’t need to prebake it.

Yet, if love thick pizza crust or a stuffed pizza crust, you must pre-bake it in your preheated oven for 5-6 minutes. 

When you see the pizza crust puffing, baking the pizza base will convert all the excess water into vapors. This step will help you to enjoy the crispier pizza crust when you further bake it to make pizza. 

Use a Pizza Stone or Steel

The use of pizza steel or pizza stone will bring the taste of your pizza to the next level. In restaurants, most chefs use any of these two tools to make their pizza more crunchy. Nevertheless, the ovens at home are shorter in size than that in restaurants, you should get a pizza stone or steel and also season your pizza stone or steel.

Use Thick Pizza Sauce

Thick pizza sauces have less water content as compared with thin sauces while making pizza. The seasonings with a watery consistency lead to moist pizza dough with no crispiness. So, ensure you use the thick sauces to prevent the sogginess of the dough. 

Opt for Thin Pizza Crust and Stretch it Well.

It would be best if you avoid the formation of thick pizza crust. When you make a thick stuffy pizza base, it’ll remain undercooked or may hold some moisture in it. The thick pizza crust will not become crispy at any temperature. 

Therefore, try to make a thin pizza base that can be quickly toasted at the oven’s temperature. The thin pizza crust can be easily made crispier. 

Avoid Adding Too Many Toppings

You may love to eat the fully loaded pizza with vegetables, cheese, meat, etc. Yet,  these toppings will not let your pizza crust become crispy. When you put all the toppings on the pizza base, it’ll increase the load on the pizza dough and add more moisture, of course.

Hence, to enjoy the crispy crust pizza, you should avoid the addition of excessive toppings. 

Cheese Can Make your Pizza Soggy

You love cheese-loaded pizza, and it’s why you add a lot of cheese over your pizza.! It’s what creates the drastic sogginess.

Let me explain, please. Adding cheese to the pizza crust without prebaking it can create a problem. 

Yet, another secret reason behind your cheese pizza not coming out crispy can be the water in your cheese. 

So what to do, is put your sliced cheese into a draining bowl with a container underneath and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. You’ll see a lot of water gathered in the bowl. It was the real reason that kept you from enjoying delicious crispy pizza.

FAQs 

Why does the frozen pizzas’ crust remain soggy?

The premade pizza dough loses its crispiness because when you defrost the frozen pizza, it will become soggy. So, if you want to avoid this pulpiness, the best way is to place it in the preheated oven directly. The consumption of more heat may let your pizza remain crispy and tasty. 

Do you use olive oil to make crispy crust pizza?

If you’re a pizza lover, you might be aware of the importance of olive oil in the pizza. The excessive usage of olive oil will lead your pizza crust to become soggy and fluffy. 

The use of olive oil will prevent the pizza crust from sticking to the pan and gives your pizza an excellent brownish shade. 

Olive oil will not make your pizza dough fluffy; it’ll give a crispy crust pizza. 

Why does my pizza take so long to crisp?

A lot of toppings to be added to the pizza base take more time, and thus increase the pizza baking time significantly. 

To your surprise, in such a situation, no one can tell you how long you should bake your pizza. It’s really unpredictable!

To prevent this, reduce toppings to get crispier pizza in a meager time. 

Why is pizza steel a better option than pizza stone?

You might be thinking that if you’ve set up the pizza stone at your home for pizza, why to bother yourself with pizza steel. So, let me clarify that pizza steel will give you even better and crispy pizza than the pizza stone.

 You all know that metal/steel is the best conductor of heat. You have to preheat the pizza stone for an hour, but the pizza steel doesn’t need to be preheated. Likewise, the pizza steel also saves you money by being more durable.

Should you pre bake pizza crust? 

It would be best to pre-bake the pizza dough to make a crispy crust pizza. After kneading the prepared dough, shape the pizza base and keep it in the preheated oven for a few minutes. 

The average time to pre-bake the pizza is 5 to 6 minutes. Pre-baking the crust will absorb all the dampness from the dough and make it crispier. 

So, if you want to add extra toppings to the pizza, you should pre-bake the dough to make it crisper and then add your desired toppings before baking. 

Final Words

We hope we have cleared all of your doubts about making homemade pizza with crispy crust no matter it is store-bought out of fresh dough. Hence, you don’t need to be bothered anymore. You have to open this writeup and get all the information to bake a crispy crust pizza at home. Enjoy the yummy pizza!